THE TURKISH CONQUEST (1420-1526)
For the next hundred years Ragusa remains under Hungarian protection,
but bound by ties so shadowy that for all practical purposes she may
be regarded as an independent State. During this period, however, she
feels the weight of Turkish power more and more, and her tribute to the
Porte goes on increasing, until it reaches the maximum limit of 12,500
ducats. But in spite of this ever-present danger she continues to grow
in wealth, splendour, and importance, and to carry out her mission
as a haven of refuge and a bulwark of Christianity and civilisation.
She flourishes as a centre of learning and the arts no less than as
an emporium of trade, and all the while she remains singularly free
from internal troubles and constitutional changes—a unique distinction
in that part of the world. She pursues the even tenour of her way
undisturbed, conservative, aristocratic, narrow-minded, but on the
whole successful and prosperous, and her population contented.
Very different was the condition of the neighbouring Balkan lands.
Bosnia was for the present fairly quiet; the Turks had been driven out
of the country, and their leader, Isak Beg, defeated in a raid into
Hungary, so that King Tvrtko was able to reoccupy Vrhbosna, and Sandalj
Hranić recognised his supremacy for the time being. The long civil war
in Croatia and Dalmatia between the partisans of Sigismund and those
of Ladislas had resulted in the acquisition of the littoral by Venice,
and the only prince who remained independent of the Republic was Ivan
Nelipić, Count of Četin, Klissa, and Rama. His estates comprised
Western Bosnia and some districts of Hlum and Dalmatia. He could not,
of course, face the Venetians on the sea, but he managed to hold his
own on the mountain ridges.[364] The Venetians and Tvrtko were ready to
come to an understanding on this matter, and a war against Nelipić was
under discussion when the Turks again invaded Bosnia. There were 4000
Ottomans in the country all through the summer of 1426, and they seized
a number of towns and raided Croatia, Usora, and Srebrnica, while King
Tvrtko did not dare to do anything against them.[365] The Ragusan
colonies in Novobrdo and Priesrinac were besieged by the Turks and in
great danger. The Venetians conducted further operations against them
in Albania, the Morea, Achaia, and round Salonica. The routes through
Albania, Bosnia, and Slavonia were interrupted,[366] and the inland
trade at a standstill.
Sandalj Hranić for a moment seemed to appreciate the danger, and after
a visit to Ragusa in 1424, made peace with Radosav Paulović, who now
seemed ready to sell his share of Canali to Ragusa for 13,000 ducats
down and 600 a year. The Republic created him and his son Ragusan
nobles, and gave them a palace in the town.[367] But he soon repented
of his bargain, and demanded back the territory, with the excuse that
the Ragusans were fortifying it contrary to the treaty. The Ragusans
refused to evacuate it, and Radosav collected a large force to make
war on them. The Republic raised local levies and mercenaries in
Italy, Albania, the Narenta Valley, the Kraina, and Hlum. A band of
Italian mercenaries was attacked by Radosav at the Pass of Ljuta and
forced to retire, and the enemy raided Breno. An Albanian force went
to lay waste Radosav’s lands, while a mixed detachment of Ragusans and
Albanians, 1800 strong, under Marino Gozze, made for Trebinje; but the
Albanians mutinied, Radosav fell on the divided force, and Gozze had
great difficulty in retiring to Breno in good order.[368] More troops
were levied in Ragusa and 2000 more mercenaries obtained from Albania
and Italy, while envoys were sent at the same time to the Hungarian
court to protest against Radosav’s conduct, and to request that troops
should be sent against him from Usora. The argument was strengthened by
the assertion that Radosav was a Bogomil.[369] A little later another
request was made to Sigismund that he should instruct the ambassador he
was sending to Sultan Murad II. to ask the latter to punish Radosav,
who, although an Ottoman vassal, had violated the truce with Hungary
by attacking a town under Hungarian protection.[370] This proves that
Radosav was already a tributary to the Turks, and also explains why
Sandalj and the King of Bosnia feared to help Ragusa against him,
although they were on good terms with the Republic. The Hungarian
ambassador, however, was not given the instructions suggested, and a
Ragusan envoy had to be sent as well. Finally, Sigismund did intervene
directly, and formed an alliance with Bosnia, Ragusa, and Sandalj
against Radosav, and 70,000 ducats, of which Bosnia was to pay 40,000,
Sandalj 20,000, and Ragusa 10,000, were offered to the Sultan for
permission to divide up all his territories between them. The Sultan
sent a Pasha to make inquiries on the spot, and he confirmed the
Republic’s possession of the land it had bought and Radosav raided,
and demanded compensation for the damage inflicted.[371] Finally,
after endless negotiations at the Sultan’s court at Adrianople[372] an
agreement was concluded by which the Republic retained the territory
it had purchased, and was to keep the interest of the money invested
by Radosav at Ragusa for twelve years as compensation; prisoners were
to be released on both sides without ransom; certain special enemies
of the Republic were to be exiled from Radosav’s court, and all damage
done to Ragusan territory in future by his vojvods was to be paid for
by him (1432).
In 1431 the Council of Basel had met, and one of its most active
members was Johannes Stoicus of Ragusa, who made every effort to
promote the union of the Eastern and the Western Churches, and end the
religious strife in the Balkans with a view to common action against
the Turks. He requested the Ragusan Senate to try to induce the chief
princes of Servia and Bosnia, whether schismatics or Bogomils, to send
envoys to Basel. The attempt was actually made, but the whole country
was in such a state of anarchy and rebellion that none of them were
able to pay any attention to the matter.[373]
A war had broken out between the King of Bosnia and Stephen Lazarević,
Despot of Servia, which was destined to last for thirty years. All the
Slave princes were fighting amongst themselves, and Ragusa had another
opportunity of extending her dominions far into the interior had she
been so minded. But according to Resti, the reason why she abstained
was that she realised that the Turks had earmarked all that country,
and that for her to occupy it would be to court annihilation, and
Trebinje, which was now offered to her, was refused. It seemed more
prudent to content herself with a small compact territory and with
acting the part of intermediary between East and West, civilisation
and barbarism, Christianity and Islam, than to aspire to dangerous
conquests. The Ragusan despatches for the next few years are full of
the Turkish advance. In 1432 Isak Beg invaded Croatia, passing through
Bosnia with 3000 men, and raided the territory of Zara, while another
army entered Wallachia and Transsilvania, forcing the lord of Wallachia
to recognise the Sultan’s supremacy. Two years later, however, the
Turks met with a serious check in Albania, where a native force under
Arneth Spata defeated the invaders several times; in 1435 Isak Beg
himself sustained a reverse, and most of Albania was cleared of the
Turks.[374] But the wars amongst the Slaves made organised resistance
impossible, and Sandalj Hranić, whose power now extended throughout
Hlum to the borders of Croatia in the north, far into the Zedda in the
south, and as far as Podrinje in the east, took the opportunity of the
war between the King of Bosnia and the Despot of Servia to join the
latter in buying of the Sultan the right to despoil the former of his
kingdom. The Despot received Usora and Zvornik, while Sandalj was to
take the rest.[375] Tvrtko, whose power had been slipping from him,
was now forced to fly, and took refuge with Sigismund of Hungary;[376]
but the civil war continued. On March 15, 1435, Sandalj died, leaving
his broad lands to his nephew, Stephen Vukčić, generally known as
Stephen Kosača,[377] who afterwards assumed the title of Duke[378] of
St. Sava, because the shrine of that saint was in his dominions. The
same year Ivan Nelipić, the last of the independent Croatian counts,
died, and his estates were annexed by the Hungarian king and divided
among the Ragusan citizens Matthew, Francis, Peter, and John of Talovac
(or Thallovez) as a reward for their services to Hungary. Kosača,
regardless of the Turkish danger, continued his petty intrigues; he at
once began to quarrel with Radosav Paulović, who was in a sense his
vassal, and each made a bid for Turkish help. Ragusa attempted to
mediate between them and to dissuade them from calling in the enemy,
but Kosača asked for and obtained 1500 Turks to reduce Radosav to
obedience.[379] In 1438 he invaded the plain of Trebinje, which was
under the latter’s jurisdiction, and forced the inhabitants to fly into
Ragusan territory. Later he proposed to Peter and Matthew of Talovac
to attack Ragusa itself, but they refused, and the Republic on being
informed intrigued against the Duke, and told the King of Hungary that
he was merely an instrument of the Turks.
In 1436 the Sultan Murad again invaded Bosnia, and captured Vrhbosna,
which henceforth became the Turkish headquarters in the country.[380]
King Tvrtko now returned with Hungarian help, but he found his whole
kingdom devastated, Usora, Srebrnica, and Zvornick held by the Despot
of Servia, and the rest by the Turks, or by vojvods who were Turkish
vassals. He was therefore forced to agree to pay the Sultan a yearly
tribute of 25,000 ducats. The real ruler of Bosnia was now Murad, who
alludes to it as part of his own dominions in a privilege granted to
the Ragusans in 1442, allowing them to trade “in Romania, Bulgaria,
Wallachia, Servia, Albania, Bosnia, and all other lands, places, and
cities under my rule.”[381] In 1440 he conquered the whole of Servia
with the exception of Belgrad, which was gallantly defended by the
Hungarian garrison commanded by the Ragusan Giovanni Luccari. The
Sultan retired baffled, but the Despot George was forced to fly,
and took refuge at Ragusa with his treasure. The following year the
Sultan, Isak Beg, and the Pasha of Romania all sent to demand the
surrender of the Despot, offering the Republic his treasure and an
increase of territory between Cattaro and the Drina as a bribe. The
citizens refused to violate the laws of hospitality,[382] but at the
same time, as George was an inconvenient guest, it was hinted to him
that he had better leave the city. He agreed, and suggested going to
Constantinople; but the Senate dissuaded him from doing so owing to the
parlous condition of the Eastern Empire. So he went to Hungary instead
on a Ragusan galley.[383] Murad determined to punish the Republic for
this refusal, and arrested all the Ragusans in his dominions, the
ambassadors themselves escaping with difficulty to Constantinople. He
then prepared to attack the city by land and sea, and the citizens
strengthened their defences, increased their military forces, enlisted
foreign mercenaries, and secured the services of an Italian engineer.
The Turkish menace was notified to the Pope and to the King of Bosnia,
while at the same time the Senate tried to bribe the Sultan by offering
to raise the tribute to 1400 ducats. According to local historians,
Murad desisted from his proposals out of admiration for the magnanimity
of the citizens in respecting the laws of hospitality; but the
real reason is probably to be found in his alarm at the attitude of
Hungary, and in the fact that the city’s defences promised a long and
difficult siege. In any case Murad was pacified, and in 1443 Ali Beg
arrived at Ragusa, and a treaty of peace was signed which returned to
the _status quo_.[384] King Sigismund had been operating against the
Turks in various directions, and obtained the loan of some Ragusan
ships to transport the Sultan’s rebellious son (or brother) from Segna
to Albania.[385] But he was not very successful in any direction, and
it seemed as though the end of the Bosnian kingdom were at hand. On
his death he was succeeded by Albert, who died soon after, and then
the Polish King Ladislas came to the throne, and to the rescue. It
is interesting to note that in the embassy sent to him by Tvrtko to
ask for help allusion was made to the common origin of the Bosnians
and the Poles—an early expression of pan-Slavism.[386] Ladislas was
assisted by the famous leader John Hunyadi, who in 1442 defeated the
Turks again and again in the Carpathians. In June 1443 Ladislas and
Hunyadi, with an army of Hungarians, Serbs, Bosnians, and Bulgarians,
invaded the enemy’s country and defeated Murad at the Kunovica Pass
near Philippopolis. Peace was signed between Hungary and the Turks soon
after, by the terms of which Servia was given back to the Despot George
Branković, and Bosnia freed from the invaders, but Stephen Tvrtko died
before this was accomplished. He was succeeded by Stephen Thomas, who
in September 1444 held a Diet of the Magnates at Kreševo, where the
Ragusan envoys came to greet him on his accession. He confirmed the
Republic in possession of the Primorije and of Canali, for which he was
to receive the Servian tribute of 2000 _ipperperi_ on St. Demetrius’s
day, and the Bosnian tribute of 500 on that of San Biagio. This shows
that Bosnia was once more the chief South-Slavonic State and had
annexed all the western part of the former dominions of the Servian
Tsars. Servia itself was little more than a vassal State of the Turks.
During the war Ragusa had made gifts and paid tribute to the Sultan
to secure immunity for the Ragusan merchants in Turkish territory and
obtain the renewal of the privileges. To this the King of Hungary does
not seem to have taken much exception.[387]
In the meanwhile Pope Eugene was preparing an international crusade
against the Turks, and he also sent a brief to Ragusa, requesting that
a contingent of two galleys should be provided by the Republic, as well
as the loan of three more, to be paid for by himself, to escort his
legate, the Bishop of Corona, which request was granted.[388] Shortly
afterwards the Senate informed the King of Hungary that nineteen
galleys had touched at Ragusa, viz. eight Papal ships, two Ragusans,
five Venetians, and four Burgundians, and that they were now collected
at Corfu, while some more Burgundian vessels, and seven from Aragon,
were expected at Modone. The land war in the Balkans began badly for
the Christians. On November 11 the Hungarians were utterly routed at
Varna, in Bulgaria, and King Ladislas was killed. The young Ladislas
Posthumus was then elected King of Hungary. One of the Sultan’s first
acts after this fight was to raise the Ragusan tribute as a punishment
for sending galleys to join the Christian fleet.[389] George, Despot
of Servia, with characteristic treachery, had arrested and imprisoned
Hunyadi after the Hungarian defeat. The Ragusan envoy, Damiano Giorgi,
who had come to Belgrad to return the Despot’s treasure, made every
effort to obtain Hunyadi’s release, but as George would not hear
reason, he induced the Serbs to liberate him without the Despot’s
consent. Giorgi and his family were afterwards taken into the Hungarian
service by the new king, Matthew Corvinus, as a reward, and given
high emoluments. But they never ceased to work in the interests of
their native city by means of their influence at Court. The efforts
of Ragusan citizens in foreign countries were among the chief causes
by which the Republic attained to and maintained its international
position.
In 1447 war between Hungary and the Turks broke out anew, and Hunyadi
led an expedition across the Danube, but the following year he was
defeated on the ill-omened field of Kossovo. On this, as on other
occasions, Ragusa sent a number of boats to Albania to pick up the
fugitives who had escaped across country from the fury of the invaders,
and sent them back to Hungary or gave them asylum in the town. Peace
was concluded, but fighting continued in Albania, and we now find the
name of Skanderbeg, the great Albanian hero, mentioned for the first
time in the Ragusan annals.
The Senate informed the Hungarian king that the Turks were besieging
Kroia, Skanderbeg’s stronghold, with two large guns, one of which could
throw balls weighing 400 lbs.; the town, however, was well defended
by 1500 men, and Skanderbeg was not far off, ever ready to fall upon
the Turks and cut off small detachments and convoys.[390] Ragusa had
furnished him both with money and provisions, and he frequently came to
the city to refit. He was now successful, raised the siege of Kroia,
and expelled the Turks from a large part of the country.
[Illustration: CLOISTER OF THE DOMINICAN MONASTERY]
We must now return to Stephen Kosača, Duke of St. Sava, and his
relations with Ragusa. Like so many other Servian princes he was a
Bogomil by religion, and when Stephen Thomas, King of Bosnia, abjured
that heresy and became a Catholic, many of his Bogomil subjects
fled into the Duchy to escape persecution, and others into Turkish
territory, while his Orthodox subjects took refuge in Servia. This
caused further discords between Bosnia and Servia, and John Hunyadi
cannot be exempted from the blame of having induced Stephen Thomas to
ill-treat the heretics;[391] in fact he actually quarrelled with the
King because the latter relented from his persecutions. The King’s
daughter had married Stephen Kosača, who nominally was a vassal of
Bosnia, but he hardly recognised his allegiance at all, and styled
himself “by the Grace of God Duke of St. Sava, Lord of Hlum and the
Littoral, Grand Vojvod of the Bosnian kingdom, Count of the Drina,”
&c.[392] Like his predecessor Sandalj Hranić, he was one of the fatal
men of the Balkans; although he tried to resist them later, his
attitude contributed not a little to the Turkish conquest of the South
Slavonic lands. His aim was simply to consolidate and extend his own
dominions at the expense of his neighbours, and he availed himself
for this purpose of the assistance which the Turks were always only
too ready to give. He also proved Ragusa’s most inveterate enemy. In
July 1450 he was still on good terms with the Republic,[393] but in
1451 the first dispute arose. The cause, according to Chalcocondylas,
and repeated by Razzi, Gondola, and others, was that he had taken to
himself a Florentine mistress brought into the country by some Italian
merchants, and drove his wife Helen from the Court. She repaired with
her son to Ragusa, and the Duke demanded that they should be given
up. The Republic refused, and Kosača, out of revenge, raised duties
on Ragusan trade, opened salt-markets in the Narenta, reoccupied part
of Canali, and laid waste the Republic’s territory. A more likely
reason is probably to be found in Kosača’s overmastering ambition. The
Republic at once demanded help of the Christian Powers, especially
of Hungary, against the heretical Duke, and an envoy was sent to the
Pope to complain that many Italians were in his service. His Holiness
replied by forbidding all good Catholics from having anything to do
with him. Fortunately for Ragusa the King of Bosnia was hostile to
Kosača on account of the indignities to which the latter had subjected
his wife (the King’s daughter). For the same reason his son Vladislav
left Ragusa and raised a rebellion against his father, allying himself
with the Republic, to whom he promised to give back Canali as soon as
he was master of the Duchy.[394] In December 1451 Ragusa contracted an
alliance with Stephen Thomas, who undertook “to declare war without
delay and carry it on without interruption against the Duke Stephen
Vukčić (Kosača), his government, his cities, and his servants, with
all the glorious strength of Our kingdom, with Our servants, and
Our friends in open warfare, as is suitable to Our lordship and Our
kingdom, provided that no obstacle impede us and no Turkish army attack
us.”[395] The Despot of Servia and other minor potentates joined the
league against “this perfidious heretic and Patarene.”[396] Ragusa
also sent an envoy to Hungary to urge the King to intervene, stating
that Kosača was intriguing with the Venetians, the Turks, and the King
of Aragon. It was suggested that this was a good moment for Hungarian
action, as the Turks were in a state of anarchy in consequence of
the death of the Sultan, and that a Hungarian army might now occupy
Kodiviet and thus prevent them from ever entering Bosnia again.[397]
Hostilities commenced in 1452, and at first Kosača was unlucky, for
a number of his barons rose against him and joined Ragusa, and the
commander of the league’s forces was his own son. But soon after a
civil war broke out in Bosnia. The Herzegovinian nobles fought against
the Duke while Kosača was devastating Ragusan territory. At Ragusa’s
instance a legate was sent by Pope Nicholas V. to Kosača, who received
him amiably, promising to make peace with the Republic and become a
Catholic. But this was only to gain time, and as soon as the Turks once
more appeared on the frontier and assisted him he again made war on
Ragusa, and a Turkish force approached the city, which was now in grave
danger. In July 1453 Vladislav expressed a wish to make peace with his
father, and the Duke, thus strengthened, again invaded Canali, took
Ragusavecchia, and captured a body of Ragusans under Marino Cerva near
Bergato. Further details of these operations are wanting, but peace
was made at last through the intervention of the Papal legate and of
a Turkish Vizir, and signed at Novi, April 10, 1454, confirming the
_status quo_. Kosača promised the Ragusans that he would never attack
them again “save by order of the Grand Signior, the Sultan of Turkey,
Mehmet Beg” (Mohammed II.).[398] It is thus clear that already the
Sultan’s influence in this part of the world was predominant. In 1453
the whole of Europe was shaken to its foundations by the capture of
Constantinople by the Turks. This event, however, did not have much
direct effect on Bosnia and Hlum, as the Turkish conquest there had
already begun. Every month some fresh raid was made, dealing death and
destruction, and yet everywhere the invaders found Slavonic princes
ready to help them against others who still held out.[399] The first
consequence which the fall of Constantinople had on Ragusa was the
raising of her tribute to the Sultan to 5000 ducats. The city again
became a haven of refuge for fugitives from the territories invaded by
the Turks, and many Greeks from Constantinople, including members of
the most distinguished families, fled to Ragusa, and remained there
for a while. Thus we find some of the Palæologi, Comneni, Lascaris,
and Cantaconzeni, and learned men like John Lascaris, Chalcocondylas,
Emmanuel Marulus, Theodore Spandukinos, author of a history of the
Turks, Paul Tarchaniotes, father of the historian John, and many
others. No doubt these men contributed to the revival of learning in
Dalmatia, as they did in the Italian towns. The refugees were provided
with food, shelter, and money, and were afterwards sent on board
Ragusan galleys free of charge to Ancona.[400] The citizens would have
been willing that they should settle permanently at Ragusa, but the
Senate feared that as many of them were such distinguished men the
Sultan might use this as a pretext for aggression. A certain number,
however, did remain.
After the capture of Constantinople it was hoped that Mohammed would
content himself with being overlord of the remaining Balkan lands not
under his direct sway. But he soon evinced more dangerous intentions,
and proceeded to establish his complete ascendency, destroying all
the independent or semi-independent States. Of these the first to be
attacked was Servia, which the Sultan claimed through his stepmother,
a Servian princess. The miserable remnant of the great Tsar Dušan’s
Empire was reduced to a small part of the present kingdom of Servia.
Mohammed’s object was to prepare for the struggle with Hungary, the
only Power which he seriously feared, for Genoa was now weak, and
Venice’s first thought was “not to recover the bulwark of Christendom
from the hands of the Muslim, but to preserve her own commercial
privileges under the Infidel ruler.”[401] In 1454 the Turks invaded
Servia, captured Ostrovica, and besieged Smederevo (Semendria); but
John Hunyadi led an army against them, relieved that stronghold,
defeated them at Kruševac, and burnt the fortress of Vidin on the
Danube. But the following year Mohammed advanced in person and captured
Novobrdo,[402] with its valuable mines, “Totam religionem Christianam
libidinoso ambiciosoque animo dicioni suæ ascripsit, flagratque
cupidine mundi,” as the Ragusan reports informed the Hungarian king.
The Republic suffered ill-effects from this capture, because the
Ragusan merchants who had a flourishing trade there were driven out. In
July 1456 Mohammed besieged Belgrad, but was defeated by the courage of
the defenders aided by the brilliant strategy of Hunyadi. Unfortunately
this great leader died soon afterwards, and Hungary was crippled by
internal troubles. In 1457 Fra Marino da Siena travelled through
Dalmatia to preach a crusade against the Turks and collect money for
that purpose. He raised 4000 ducats at Ragusa alone,[403] and the King
of Hungary requested the Senate to use its influence to induce him to
devote the money to a land crusade, as the danger on that side was
more pressing, rather than to a naval expedition. By the end of the
year the whole of Servia was subjugated except Belgrad and the Danubian
provinces. On the death of Ladislas, Matthew Corvinus, Hunyadi’s son,
was elected by the Diet to succeed him (January 1458).
Ragusa, which had been described by King Ladislas as the “scutum
confiniorum regni nostri Dalmatiæ,” had been threatened by the Turks
in 1455, but not seriously, as they were occupied elsewhere. In 1458
Mohammed again menaced the Republic, and sent Isak Beg into Bosnia to
order the vassal princes to capture the city if she did not immediately
make submission to him and increase her tribute.[404] Hungarian aid
was solicited, and the citizens prepared to defend themselves; but
once more the danger was averted, as the Turks had other more pressing
matters to attend to.
In 1459 the final conquest of Bosnia was begun. King Stephen Thomas
had paid tribute to the Sultan since 1449, and after the fall of
Constantinople he had sent envoys to do homage to the victor,[405] but
at the same time he was imploring the help of the Pope; this caused
much discontent among his Bogomil subjects, who had already shown
themselves not unfriendly to the Turks. But after Hunyadi’s victory at
Belgrad Stephen was encouraged to further resistance; he refused to pay
the tribute, and actually intended to lead a crusade in person.[406]
The Pope ordered his legate in Dalmatia to raise funds for him, and
enjoined Kosača to help him.[407] Stephen began to attack the Turkish
garrisons in Servia, but after taking a few towns he came to terms with
the Sultan early in 1458, and paid him a tribute of 9000 ducats. On the
death of Lazar, the Despot of Servia, the King of Hungary conferred
the despotate on Stephen the Younger, or Tomašević, the Bosnian king’s
son, who had married Lazar’s daughter, Helena. Thus Bosnia acquired the
Danubian region of Servia, including Semendria. But Mohammed determined
to conquer even these districts once for all, and to punish Stephen
Thomas for his audacity. The Servians themselves were dissatisfied
with their new ruler, because he was a devout Catholic, and they
regarded him simply as a Hungarian viceroy. When in June 1459 Mohammed
approached Semendria the inhabitants opened their gates to him. Owing
to its position at the confluence of the Morava and the Danube it
was the key to the whole country, and its fall, which spelt the end
of Bosnian rule in Servia, caused consternation throughout Europe.
It was attributed by Matthew Corvinus to Stephen Thomas and his son.
While this quarrel was going on and the Hungarian king was at war with
Germany, the Turkish general, Hassan Pasha, had obliged the King of
Bosnia to let him pass through the country with a large army. The next
year hostilities broke out between Paul Sperančić, Banus of Croatia,
and Stephen Thomas, in the course of which the latter was killed. His
son, Stephen Tomašević, succeeded to him, and was the last King of
Bosnia (1461).
The country was indeed in a most terrible condition—the Turks
threatened it from the south, the Banus of Croatia from the west,
and internally the Bogomils were in open revolt and protected by the
Duke of St. Sava. The Papal legate managed, however, to bring about
a reconciliation between the latter and Stephen Tomašević, who now
retired to Jajce. There he collected his magnates around him, and was
solemnly crowned, being the first and last Bosnian king who was crowned
with the favour of the Catholic Church,[408] styling himself “King
of Servia, Hlum, the Littoral, Dalmatia, Croatia, Dolnji-Kralj, the
Western Land, Usora, Soli, Prodrinje,” &c. He granted many privileges
to the Ragusans, confirmed the Republic in possession of all its
territories, and promised to pay his father’s debts towards it.[409]
By the end of 1461 he managed to make peace with the Banus of Croatia
and his own rebels, and obtained help against the Turks from Venice,
Ragusa, and elsewhere. Kosača himself was in danger from the Turks, who
only supported him as long as he was of any use to them; he too applied
to Ragusa for money and ammunition. Pius II. succeeded after long
negotiations in reconciling the King of Hungary and Stephen Tomašević,
the latter paying the former a sum of money and giving up a fortress.
But in spite of this slightly improved outlook the final ruin was fast
approaching. The Bosnian king’s Catholicism had alienated his Bogomil
subjects, many of whom had taken refuge among the Turks, while several
of the magnates were holding treasonable intercourse with the enemy.
[Illustration: MAP OF THE RAGUSAN REPUBLIC AND NEIGHBOURING STATES.
_After the Peace of Carlovitz (1699.)_]
The Sultan on hearing of Stephen’s alliance with Hungary sent to
demand the tribute, and this being refused he vowed vengeance, but
stayed his hand for a short while to attend to other affairs. The
despairing King implored help of all his neighbours, and prepared for
a last stand. More troops were levied in Bosnia, and envoys were sent
to Italy and Croatia to enlist mercenaries.[410] But the support of
his people was lacking, and resistance hopeless. Ragusa could not give
men, being herself hard pressed, but gave arms and ammunition.[411]
Finding himself in desperate straits he sent envoys to Constantinople
to offer to pay the tribute once more and ask for a fifteen years’
truce. Mohammed granted this request, fully intending to attack Bosnia
at once. The Servian Michael of Ostrovica, who heard the Sultan
discussing this treachery, warned the Bosnian ambassadors, but they
laughed at him and returned home with the good news. Mohammed then
began his northward march with 15,000 horse and countless foot, and
let out that he intended to attack Hungary itself, so that Matthew
Corvinus should not send help to Bosnia. The army marched through
Üsküb to Senice, and an advanced guard under Mohammed Pasha captured
Podrinje in Bosnia. The great fortress of Bobovac, which had hitherto
resisted all Turkish sieges, was next attacked. It might easily have
held out for many months, but the Governor, Knez Radak, a Bogomil who
had been converted to Catholicism by force, surrendered it without a
struggle. The traitor, however, was beheaded by the Turks, and a large
part of the inhabitants made prisoners, including the very envoys who
had brought the charter of the truce from Constantinople. The news of
the fall of Bobovac caused the most widespread dismay throughout the
land, and the Turkish advance was almost unopposed, many of the Bogomil
nobles going over to the enemy. In eight days about eighty towns had
surrendered. The King fled from Jajce to Kljuć, where he was pursued by
Mohammed Pasha and besieged. On a promise that his life would be spared
if he surrendered, he gave himself up, and was brought as a prisoner
before the Sultan at Jajce, which had also opened its gates to him on
the understanding that its inhabitants should be unmolested. The craven
King helped to make the conquest all the easier by authorising his
governors and officers to surrender (June 1463). The Sultan now wished
to complete his conquests by annexing the Herzegovina. Stephen Kosača
at first meditated flight to Ragusa, but then determined to hold out
for a time, and sent his son, Vladislav, to levy troops on the coast.
The Turkish advance through the bare and rocky Karst mountains of the
Duchy proved more difficult than was anticipated. Mohammed besieged
Blagaj, the Duke’s residence, in vain, captured Kljuć (not the Bosnian
town of that name) and Ljubuski, but soon lost them again.[412] A few
weeks later he abandoned the scheme and returned to Constantinople.
The Bosnian kingdom had collapsed entirely; 100,000 prisoners had
been taken, and 30,000 youths enrolled in the corps of Janissaries.
The Sultan was in doubt as to what to do with Stephen Tomašević. It
was his invariable practice to put the rulers of the lands which he
conquered to death, but in this case his lieutenant had pledged the
Imperial word that the King should be spared. A learned Persian mufti
helped him out of the difficulty by declaring that a safe-conduct
given without the Sultan’s direct assent to be invalid, and he
himself cut off Stephen’s head. The King’s widow, Mary Helena, fled
to Croatia and afterwards to Spalato, accompanied by many magnates,
including the Vojvod Ivaniš Vlatković, and eventually died in Hungary.
The Queen-mother, Catherine, lingered for a while in the convent of
Sutjeska (Herzegovina), until the advance of the Turks forced her to
escape by way of Stagno to Ragusa, where she received hospitality and
was given a pension of 500 ducats a year. She remained there until
1475, when she retired to a convent in Rome; she died in the Eternal
City three years later, and was buried in the church of Ara Cœli.
Countless fugitives from Bosnia now fled to the Dalmatian towns,
especially to the ever-hospitable Ragusa, until at last Mohammed’s
attention was called by a Franciscan monk to the depopulation of the
country, and he was induced to modify his policy of persecution and
grant privileges to that Order, which thenceforth ministered to the
spiritual needs of the Bosnian Catholics.[413] Religious differences
had thus brought about the final ruin of the land, and subjected
it to the awful blight of Turkish misrule for over four centuries;
but they survived the conquest. The Bogomils gradually dropped into
Muhamedanism, which from its purely monotheistic character was less
repugnant to them than Catholicism; but a few adhered to their old
tenets for a long time, and there were Bogomils in Bosnia and the
Herzegovina until sixty or seventy years ago; indeed it is asserted
that Bogomil rites are still practised by the Muhamedans of certain
villages near Konjica and elsewhere. The Orthodox Church, however,
gained large numbers of adherents, and is to-day the most numerous of
the three communities in Bosnia and the Herzegovina.
Meanwhile the Ragusans were cowering behind their walls, expecting
every moment to hear the tramp of the Turkish legions advancing to
overwhelm them. The outworks on the Monte Sergio were strengthened,
the churches outside the city and the houses in the suburbs of Pille
and Ploće were pulled down, the wells at Ombla, Gravosa, and the
neighbourhood poisoned, and the Government was authorised to destroy
the aqueduct if necessary. The fortifications of Stagno were improved,
and the Count entrusted with the defence of the frontier. All the
Ragusan galleys in Dalmatia and elsewhere were recalled to defend the
home waters, crossbowmen and rowers were levied in all the islands,
a corps of infantry and lances raised in Apulia and placed under the
command of Spirito d’Altamura, and a Herzegovinian contingent under
Ivaniš Vlatković was formed. A loan of 15,000 ducats was raised to
provide for war expenses.[414] During his raid through the Duchy the
Sultan came very near to Ragusa, which he had determined to attack in
person and occupy, as it would be a most useful port on the Adriatic
and a basis for operations against Venice and Italy. While processions
and prayers of intercession were being held in the town, a messenger
arrived from the Beglerbeg of Rumelia ordering the Republic to do
homage to Mohammed. This was done; but the Sultan demanded that the
citizens should give up all their territory to him, and that the
ambassadors should follow him to Thrace as hostages. The Senate was
filled with consternation, as the surrender of the territory would be
but a preliminary to the capture of the city itself. But one of the
Senators, Serafino Bona, proposed that a reply should be drafted to the
effect that while the Republic was ready to give up its territory to
the Turks, it would place the city itself under the direct protection
of Hungary and admit a Hungarian garrison. This diplomatic answer
saved the situation, for the Sultan, who had heard of the great
preparations which were being made in Hungary, had no mind to be
attacked by the enemy from the south-west as well as from the north.
Moreover, his troops were being severely handled in the rocky gorges
of the Herzegovina by Kosača and his mountaineers; so he abandoned the
enterprise for the time being.[415]
In the south a vigorous resistance was maintained by Skanderbeg,[416]
the only Christian leader worthy of the name since the death of
Hunyadi. Captured by the Turks when a child and brought up as a
Muhamedan in the corps of Janissaries, he distinguished himself by his
prowess in the Turkish service. But during the Servian campaign of 1442
he was suddenly inspired with a feeling of duty towards his native
country and the faith of his ancestors. He abandoned the Turkish host
with 300 followers, obtained possession of the fortress of Kroia by
stratagem, and from that day forth maintained in the wild fastnesses
of Albania a desperate and successful struggle against the Turks. Only
once was he defeated (in 1456); but on countless other occasions he
inflicted overwhelming defeats on the enemy, and he came to be regarded
as the chief bulwark of Christianity in the Balkans, assuming the title
of “Athleta Christianitatis.” In 1444 he summoned a council of Albanian
leaders at the Venetian town of Alessio to concert defensive measures.
Army after army was hurled against him, only to be repulsed and cut to
pieces. After the capture of Constantinople Mohammed sent Hamsa Pasha
with 50,000 men into Albania, but he was defeated by Skanderbeg with
only 11,000. A few months later the Albanian hero passed through Ragusa
on his way to Apulia to obtain help from Alfonso V., King of Naples,
and having received promises of a contingent of Neapolitan troops,
he returned in disguise to Ragusa, when he was given a ship to go to
Redoni in Albania. According to Razzi,[417] the Sultan heard of this
visit and raised the Ragusan tribute in consequence. The Neapolitan
historian Summonte, on the other hand, states that Skanderbeg himself
did not come to Naples on this occasion, but sent three ambassadors.
He adds that Albania was then placed under Neapolitan protection.
What is certain, however, is that 1000 men and 18 guns were sent from
Naples to the Athlete of Christendom. In 1458 Alfonso died, and his
son Ferdinand found his succession disputed by John of Anjou, who had
the support of most of the barons. He then appealed to Skanderbeg
for help, and the chivalrous Albanian, who was not forgetful of past
services, being at the time undisturbed by the Turks, crossed over to
Apulia in 1459, defeated Ferdinand’s enemies, established the King
securely on the throne, and returned to Albania the following year.
Ragusa again furnished him with money and arms, recommended his cause
to the Pope, and gave him ships for service along the coast and between
Albania and Italy. It is probable that all his sea journeys as well
as those of his ambassadors were performed on Ragusan ships. He also
deposited sums of money in the treasury of the Republic. Between 1460
and 1461 he defeated four Turkish armies of 300,000 or 400,000 men
each, and obliged Mohammed to make peace with him. Early in 1462 he
again visited Ragusa, where he was greatly honoured by the citizens,
and furnished with further supplies of grain, wine, sheep, &c. When,
in 1463, Pope Pius II. proclaimed a crusade, Skanderbeg was induced
to violate the truce—as indeed Mohammed would have done had it suited
him—and joined the expedition. On August 4, 1464, he gained a splendid
victory at Ochrida, but twelve days later Pius II. died, and the
crusade collapsed, and Skanderbeg found himself alone, exposed to the
full fury of the Turks. But he again routed them, and sent envoys to
Italy to ask for assistance. Mohammed in person led a large army into
Albania and laid siege to Kroia. Skanderbeg remained outside the town,
as he had done in the previous siege, with a few thousand warriors,
and repeatedly fell upon the enemy, inflicting heavy losses on them.
Mohammed, hearing that his northern frontiers were threatened by the
King of Hungary, and his Asiatic provinces by the Prince of Caramania,
departed from Albania, leaving Balaban Pasha to continue the siege
with 19,000 men (he had lost 30,000 already). Skanderbeg himself went
to Rome to obtain further help from the Powers. But although he was
received with great splendour, he obtained no material assistance save
a little money. Venice, however, sent him some troops, and on the death
of Balaban Pasha the siege of Kroia was raised. In 1466 the Sultan
returned in person with 130,000 men to attack Durazzo and Kroia, but
failed in both attempts, and returned discomfited to Constantinople.
Further contingents arrived from Venice and Naples, and Skanderbeg
summoned another conference of chiefs at Alessio to discuss defensive
measures. But on January 17, 1467, the Athlete of Christendom died of
fever. The Persian war continued to give the Albanians a short respite,
but the end of their independence was not far off. Skanderbeg had not
had time to consolidate his country so that it would remain united
after his death, and his disappearance was followed by complete anarchy.
[Illustration: THE ORLANDO COLUMN]
In the north the King of Hungary was making desperate efforts to
recover Bosnia, and in his operations he received help from Ragusa.
A few months after the murder of Stephen Tomašević, Matthew Corvinus
invaded Bosnia, and with the help of several of the magnates, including
Kosača’s son, Vladislav Vukčić, reconquered Dolnji-Kralj and Usora,
with about thirty towns and fortresses, including Jajce, Zvečaj,
Banjaluka, Tešanji, and Srebrenik, only Upper Bosnia and Podrinje
remaining under the Turks. The King rewarded Vladislav for his services
by giving him the counties of Uskoplje and Rama. In the spring of 1464
Mohammed again invaded Bosnia with 30,000 men and besieged Jajce, but
was forced to retire. The part of Bosnia now under Hungary was formed
into two Banats—Jajce and Srebrenik—and the Governor, Nicholas of
Ilok, Vojvod of Transsilvania, was entitled “King of Bosnia,” so as
to uphold the Hungarian claims over the whole country. In the south
another Hungarian expedition was made in 1465 from the Narenta. The
Ragusan Senate ordered a bridge to be built across that river, at the
Republic’s expense, near the castle of Počitelj, so as to facilitate
the passage of the Hungarian army, and all the necessary materials and
workmen were sent there for the purpose. Two Hungarian envoys came
to Ragusa to arrange the plan of campaign. The Herzegovina was still
ruled by Kosača, but Turkish raids from southern Bosnia were frequent,
and it was important to keep the enemy from the Narenta’s mouth.[418]
Počitelj, a quaint and picturesque hill town, came to be the centre
of a series of operations against the Turks, which lasted until 1470.
In 1466 we find the Ragusans giving “4 schopetos parvos, 4 tarassios
de minoribus,” 200 lbs. of powder, 1000 beams, and 1000 “clavos” for
the defence of Počitelj, and two carpenters, two _marangoni_, and some
boats. Three bombards, building materials, ropes, bullets, provisions,
and more firelocks and boats were added later, together with a staff of
boat-builders and engineers.[419]
In 1466 Kosača died, having deposited his will at Ragusa. By its terms
his estates were divided between his three sons, Stephen, Vladislav,
and Vlatko. To the first he also left his crown, some plate and
jewels, and 30,000 ducats, to the third 30,000 ducats, to his widow
Cecilia 1000 ducats, some plate, brocades, and robes; the rest of his
personalty was to be divided equally among his three sons, save 10,000
ducats for his soul.[420] But their possessions were constantly menaced
by the Turks, and the youngest brother became a renegade and took the
name of Achmed Beg. The other two soon quarrelled among themselves, and
each asked for Turkish assistance. In 1469 Hamsa Beg raided Ragusan
territory, and an attack on the town was momentarily expected. A second
raid was made in 1470, and Postranja and Canali were laid waste, the
castle of Soko alone holding out. The Ragusan merchants in Trebinje
were also plundered. As Hamsa refused to hear reason, the garrison
was increased, the galleys armed, and the moat before the Porta Pile
dug.[421] At this time Počitelj was being besieged.
The Ragusans had been trying to induce the Sultan to reduce the
tribute from 5000 to 3000 ducats, stating that the constant troubles in
Slavonia and Servia had made them very poor. As Mohammed was engaged
in the Persian war, his vizirs agreed to the reduction, but when he
returned he not only insisted on the remaining 2000 being paid, but
raised the sum to 8000.[422] There was nothing for it but to pay, as
Turkish karaulas (block-houses) were only two miles from the gates, and
an attack was feared at any moment. But it was not paid for nothing,
for the Ragusans obtained many new privileges; moreover, the increase
was in part due to the fact that the Turks were the successors to
various native princes whom they had dispossessed, and to whom the
Republic had formerly paid tribute. The Pope renewed the exemption
to trade with the Infidel. The one danger was that the Turks should
suddenly desire to capture the city, as on more than one occasion they
had been on the point of doing. It required all the skilful diplomacy
of the Senate to avoid this contingency.
In January 1474 the Turks renewed their incursions into Albania.
Skanderbeg on his deathbed had entrusted the task of defending his
country to the Venetians, which they, with the help of the Montenegrins
and some Albanian tribes, attempted to do. They themselves held various
towns on or near the coast, including Scutari, which was now besieged
by an immense Turkish army. Among the defenders were several Ragusans,
and the Republic was throughout the siege well supplied with news of
all the operations. The Turkish leader was Suleiman Beg, a Bosnian
renegade, while the Venetians were led by Andrea Loredano, and their
allies by Ivan Crnojevnić, a Montenegrin. Hostilities began with the
defeat of the Turkish fleet at the mouth of the Boiana by Gritti, but
by May the enemy had invested the town. The garrison consisted of
only 1300 men, while it contained 700 non-combatants, but it was well
provided with arms, ammunition, and food. The besiegers brought up much
heavy artillery drawn by camels. The Ragusan Senate was convinced that
if Scutari fell it was all up with Albania and Dalmatia, and that even
Italy would be in danger. The Turks delivered an attack and effected a
breach in the walls; the garrison not wishing to exhaust themselves,
waited until the enemy had entered, and then fell upon them with such
fury that they drove them back, killing 2000 and wounding an immense
number. Suleiman Beg announced this disaster to the Sultan, and then
abandoned the siege, having lost 7000 men killed and 14,000 wounded in
all. As some Ragusans had taken part in the defence, the Sultan again
raised the Republic’s tribute to 10,000 ducats.[423] In 1477 the Turks
attacked Kroia, Skanderbeg’s old stronghold, and as the Venetians could
not relieve it, it fell, while numerous bodies of Turkish cavalry made
inroads into Friuli from Bosnia. The Venetians finally made peace,
giving up Scutari and Kroia, and agreeing to pay 10,000 ducats a
year for trading rights in the Turkish dominions. They now held only
Durazzo, Antivari, and Butrinto, all the rest of Albania being occupied
by the enemy.
During these operations Ragusa was more than once in serious danger,
and Pope Sixtus V. granted full indulgence to all those who contributed
to the defence of the city, whether natives or foreigners. He said of
it: “In oculis Turchorum quasi propugnaculum sita existit, maribus
satis munita, florenti populo decorata ac armis et aliis instrumentis
bellicis abundans, et hominum suorum virilitate parata adversus
prædictorum incursus semper existit.” The Sultan, he adds, was planning
to attack it with an immense army, and it could not hold out unless
other Christians came to its assistance.[424] The city, however, was
saved once more by the crushing defeat of the Turkish army by the
Hungarians in Transsilvania.
In 1481 Mohammed II. died, and was succeeded by his son Bayazet.
Iskender Pasha, Beglerbeg of Servia, then ravaged Dalmatia, with the
excuse that on the death of the Sultan all the treaties made by him
were invalid unless renewed by his successor. Venice at once sent
ambassadors to obtain their renewal, but the negotiations proved
difficult, and lasted over a year. Ragusa was more fortunate; all her
privileges were confirmed, and the tribute reduced to 3000 ducats.[424]
In 1483 Bayazet determined to complete the conquest of the Herzegovina,
and sent a large force to invade it under one Gjursević Beg, a Bosnian
renegade. This time the task proved easier, as the succession of raids
had broken the back of the Herzegovinians’ resistance. Vlatko fled from
Castelnuovo to Ragusa, and thence to Hungary. This so incensed the
Turks that they again threatened to seize the city, but the Republic
appeased them by a gift of 12,500 ducats to the Sultan and 500 to his
Ministers as a bribe, while it agreed to pay an additional 100 a year
to Aliza, the newly-appointed Sandjakbeg of the Herzegovina. It is said
that Aliza had already come to an understanding with the commander
of the Hungarian guard in Ragusa to enter the town, but the Senate
discovered the plot in time, and had the traitor strangled, together
with two accomplices.[425] A Ragusan citizen named G. Niccolò Palmotta
was put to death for intriguing with the Turks at Castelnuovo.
With the conquest of the Herzegovina Ragusa’s relations with the
Turks became more intimate. The whole of Bosnia, save Jajce and the
surrounding district, the Herzegovina, all Albania excepting a few
Venetian towns, parts of Croatia, Slavonia, and Hungary were in Turkish
hands. Dalmatia as far as the Narenta’s mouth was still Venetian, and
so was Cattaro, although a strip of the coast of the Bocche, including
Castelnuovo, was held by the Turks. Ragusa’s land frontier was thus
encompassed on all sides by the Infidel save in the north, where the
marshy delta of the Narenta divided it from Venetian territory. Hungary
was weak on her southern border, and much occupied with the German wars
in the north; but although Ragusa could hope for little help in that
quarter, she kept on good terms with the King, and continued to furnish
him with information as to the movements of the enemy, and to pay him
the tribute of 500 ducats at irregular intervals. This she did partly
for commercial reasons, the Hungarian trade being still important, and
partly because she hoped that the cause of Christendom in the Western
Balkans might yet triumph under Hungarian auspices.
On the other hand, the old jealousy of Venice was by no means dead,
and the Ragusans were suspicious of her every movement, fearing that
by a _coup de main_ she might capture the city, and thus unite her
Dalmatian possessions with Cattaro and gain an unbroken line of posts
all down the Adriatic. That Ragusa’s fears of Venetian hostility were
not groundless became manifest the following year. Venice was then at
war with Alfonso of Ferrara; the causes of that war offer a curious
parallel with those of Venetian hostility towards Ragusa. Like Ragusa,
Ferrara was an independent State placed between the main Venetian
possessions and an outpost—in this case Ravenna. In addition there
were disagreements on account of the salt monopoly and the navigation
dues, as in the case of Ragusa. A Venetian flotilla was blockading
the entrance to the Po and besieging the city. Some Ragusan galleys
happened to be up the river, and were detained by Ippolito d’Este,
who utilised them and their crews for the defence. When the Venetian
fleet under Angelo Trevisan attempted to sail in it was repulsed by the
shore batteries, with the help, it is said, of the Ragusan gunners.
The Venetian Government out of revenge issued a decree which greatly
hampered Ragusan trade with Venice and her possessions (September 21,
1484). Ragusan residents and merchants were expelled from Venice, and
all Ragusan ships forced to pay 100 ducats as anchorage dues, while
some of them were seized as compensation for the damage suffered at
Ferrara.[426] Other impositions were also levied, and although the
dispute was settled soon after, mutual distrust continued as before.
In 1490 Matthew Corvinus died, and the disappearance of that able and
warlike monarch caused a recrudescence of Turkish activity in all
directions. In 1492 the Republic suffered from the raids of Kosača’s
renegade son Achmet. Kosača had left large sums of money at Ragusa in
trust for his sons, and Achmet, who had already received his share,
now demanded that it should be paid over again, and accused the
Republic before the Sultan of having robbed him. Although the Ragusan
ambassadors showed Bayazet Achmet’s receipt, the Sultan ordered the
Republic to pay 100,000 ducats at once. The new King of Hungary,
Ladislas II., promised help, but as it was not forthcoming the Republic
had to pay.
In 1499 the city was again in danger of a Turkish attack, and envoys
were sent to Hungary to raise a force of mercenaries. The reasons for
this hostility, besides the usual desire on the part of the Turks
to occupy so excellent a port, were due to the fact that many of
the Bosnian and Herzegovinian nobles who had taken refuge at Ragusa
frequently made raids into the conquered territory, doing much damage
to its new occupants. The Turks also believed that the Ragusans
sometimes helped even the Venetians. In fact, the reports of the
Ragusan “exploratores” (spies) and traders in all parts of the Ottoman
dominions were often transmitted to other Christian potentates besides
the King of Hungary. On this occasion the Venetians were informed that
the Turkish fleet was to be ready in May, and that bridges were being
built across all the rivers in Albania.[427] But apparently the Sultan
put off his expedition, and decided to send only four ships to Apulia
to fetch the body of Djem.[428] He altered his plans again in June, got
ready a large fleet, and concentrated the army at Üsküb. In July the
land force had advanced northward to Pirot; by August it had crossed
into Albania, and was encamped on the coast opposite Corfu. The fleet
left Gallipoli, and artillery was sent to Albania and the Morea.[429]
The last years of the fifteenth century and the first of the sixteenth
were marked by plagues and earthquakes at Ragusa. Razzi mentions
epidemics of various kinds in 1500, 1503, and 1505, when 1600 persons
died; and earthquakes in 1496 and 1504. The Republic’s trade was also
harried by the numerous corsairs which infested the Adriatic and the
Mediterranean. In 1510 seven Candiot pirate barques captured two
Ragusan galleys laden with Ragusan goods worth 30,000 ducats, as well
as valuable property belonging to some Florentines; but the stolen
goods were recovered through the action of the Venetian Senate. The
Sultan of Egypt, who, like other Muhamedan potentates, did not always
distinguish between one Christian race and another, detained five
Ragusan vessels at Alexandria as a reprisal for the capture of some
Moorish ships by the Knights of Rhodes. But the Sultan was pacified,
and he returned the ships and granted the Ragusans permission to trade
with the East Indies through Egypt and Syria. In 1509 the Republic had
availed itself of Venice’s difficulties consequent on the League of
Cambrai to obtain the removal of trade restrictions, and it provided
Venice with grain and war stores in return.[430] The following year it
informed the Venetian Government that the Sultan had made a truce with
Hungary in order to wrest Dalmatia from them. In 1512 the Sultan once
more raised the tribute from 3000 to 5000 ducats, and threatened the
city with an expedition of 500 sail, probably in consequence of the
assistance given to Venice; but again the danger passed off.
In 1520 an earthquake, far more severe than any shock hitherto
experienced, occurred, and did damage valued at 100,000 ducats in
the town, and 50,000 in the neighbourhood. The Monte Bergato seemed
about to fall and overwhelm Ragusa, “but the city was saved through
the intervention of the San Biagio and of the Blessed Virgin.”[431]
Twenty persons were killed and many injured. The little chapel of San
Salvatore was erected as a votive offering to express the gratitude of
the citizens at the salvation of the town. Six years later a terrible
pestilence broke out, and wrought fearful havoc in spite of the
precautions taken to isolate the sick. The death-rate was about 100 a
day,[432] and in all 164 nobles, 184 monks and nuns, and 20,000 other
citizens died. The city was abandoned by all save a guard of soldiers
and the crews of two galleys remaining in the port. The Senate held
its sittings at Gravosa, and the population only returned after twenty
months.[433] Shortly after a pirate fleet of twenty-four sail appeared
off Molonta threatening the town. But in spite of the disorganisation
caused by the plague the Government was able to fit out a fleet of ten
large ships, two galleys, one barque, and eighteen brigantines, under
the command of Marino Zamagna, who, with the help of two Venetian
ships, drove the pirates out of the Adriatic.
The year 1526 was a momentous one for Christendom. The Turkish wars
with Hungary had been going on intermittently for many years, now one
side gaining the advantage now the other, but no decisive operations
had taken place recently. In Bosnia, the fortress of Jajce became the
centre of the fighting, and was again and again besieged by the Turks,
who were again and again repulsed with heavy loss. Besides Jajce, the
Hungarians held a strip of territory south of the Save, including
the fortresses of Zvornik, Szabács, and Belgrad. When Suleiman the
Magnificent ascended the throne of Othman in 1520, he determined
to seize these strongholds so as to open the way into Hungary. He
collected a powerful army, and led it in person into the Banate.
Szabács was the first to fall, in 1521; Semlin, Slankamen, Mitrović,
Zvornik, Tešanj, and Sokol were next captured, and after a long siege
Belgrad was taken by treachery. But the attack on Jajce, which was
defended by the gallant Peter Keglević, failed completely. A second
attack on Jajce was equally unsuccessful, owing to the arrival of
a Croatian force under Frangipani. In 1526 Suleiman again invaded
Hungary, and on August 29 the great battle of Mohács was fought,
in which the Hungarians were totally defeated and 20,000 of them,
including their King, killed. This disaster marks the end of Hungary
for the time being. The Sultan conquered all that remained of Bosnia,
including Jajce, in 1528, as well as a large part of Croatia and
southern Hungary.
Ragusan dependence on Hungary now ceased, and the Republic refused to
recognise any claim to allegiance on the part of either John Zapolya,
who succeeded to what remained of the kingdom, or of Ferdinand of
Austria, the German Emperor. In 1527 Ferdinand wrote to the Senate,
requesting them to remain faithful to him as overlord of Hungary, as
they had been to his predecessors. But no attention was paid to this
demand, and the Republic remained more or less under Turkish protection
until its fall.[434] But it obtained from the Turks all the commercial
privileges granted by the King of Hungary, and its trade in the latter
country flourished under the Crescent as well as under the Cross. After
the capture of Buda some Ragusans actually farmed the taxes of the
city.[435]
[Illustration: BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF RAGUSA AND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
(_From an Old Map_, 1670)]